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2014-02-11 - Siberian Super Soldiers: A Joint SHIELD/Avengers Meeting
The conference room smells like fresh coffee and warm pastries. Beaurcracy has its perks, as few as they may be. The screens are lit low, but show several satellite images what looks like a hug pit in the ground with a small dilapidated village on the edge. The overhead lights are only at a midlevel, as well, to not take away from the visuals on the screens. The redheaded Deputy Director is already in the conference room, standing in a corner with the eyepatch-wearing Director, the two speaking in low tones as the varying SHIELD agents and Avengers filter into the conference room. The side table has coffee, doughnuts, bearclaws, and scones, along with all the requisite fixings for said coffee, ready for those invited to partake of if needed or desired. Once everyone has arrived, Black Widow-- in SHIELD uniform, no less, for whatever reason-- turns away from the Director, looking... chastised? Strange. But the expression fades quickly into her usual icy demeanor as she takes her seat at the right head of the table, where a bear claw and a 20 oz bottle of ginger ale wait for her. The Director takes his seat at the head of the table, where he belongs, a cup of coffee at the side of his datapad. He nods to Natasha to get things started-- perhaps a concession after what looks like a likely epic lecture. The Deputy Director of SHIELD nods to him, standing up and leaning on her hands on the table. "So. Here is the start: The Red Skull has been back for some time, and has gotten HYDRA and AIM to work together on some project. We had been monitoring their communications as best we could, but up until this morning, all we knew is that they were looking for some sort of weapon." "This morning, we found out what they were looking for. And we think they know where it is." Sitting at one of Fury's side is his protege, Daisy Johnson. Codename: Quake. She'd been absent for awhile, doing this mission or that. But her recent presence aboard the Hellicarrier might make some wonder. The grimace is a fractional one, tight, and while keeping an eye on Fury, she also scans the room. Hill had been seated for awhile waiting for things to commence and as she does so she types rapidly on her datapad. It's only brief, stolen glances toward the Director and Deputy Director watching their reactions to one another as she runs over the various bits of information that she had available to her before the briefing. As always she wanted to be ahead of the game. It's the way that Natasha steps away from Fury that earns a small lift of eyebrow and she finally sets her datapad down to clasp her fingers together in front of her on the table. Patiently waiting though there was no need to wait for long. She-Hulk steps inside. She looks almost too big to be allowed in this room, but she settles to a seat almost right away. Ah, good, SHIELD reinforces their furniture to take Asgardians and Hulks. Or at least this furniture. The bad news causes her to turn to the counter behind her and grab a chocolate-frosted donut. Jessica Drew doesn't sit but stands, in SHIELD attire with her raven hair pulled up in a ponytail, as she eyes the screen with a bit of a professional air, she looks to Fury and shakes her head. "Lovely," she says, picking at her finger nails. "What is it, then? Nukes, ancient relics that threaten to blow up the Earth, biological warfare." She looks at Nat and raises her brow. Captain America walks into the room and sits down at the table across from Nick. He has a coffee mug in his hand and silently lifts it in greeting to the director. Then there's a greeting of, "Ladies." Then he falls silent listening. Hawkeye is seated not far from Natasha in his usual SHIELD gear, black and purple body armour, minus the bow and pouches today. He has a big cup of coffee in front of him and when Natasha stands to begin her briefing he leans forward and drags her plate with a bear claw on it over in front of him. Earning a one-eyed stare from the Director. Hawkeye smiles with a shrug as he bites into the pastry. It's a bit of a briefing game between him and Nat and clearly the cold stare of Nick Fury isn't going to stop it. He settles in to listen. Seated next to Hank, Jan had been smiling and whispering quietly to her partner, her hands flittering as she goes. However, once the news hits, those hands stop...and Jan blinks, turning to give what she rarely gives...her full undivided attention. Anessa has her seat, and a cup of coffee, black. She's quiet, as usual, observing, and soaking up information. In SHIELD uniform, the woman maintains a neutral expression, her apparently undivided attention focused on the table where the Director, Deputy Director and party reside. As Natasha begins, she sits up a bit straighter. Ant-Man leans forward to examine the view with a critical eye and asks, "Sleeper robot?" Steve Rogers frowns, "I had thought a cosmic cube." "Mrhghs," Hawkeye says before he swallows a bite of his bear claw. "See, I totally called cosmic cube," he clarifies with a nod to Steve. "Not a cosmic cube," states Daisy, rather briskly. What it is? If she knows, she leaves it to Fury to disclose. Romanova nods to Drew, acknowledging her question. "Worse, in some ways." Her gaze flits back to the Director, who is giving her /that/ look. The disappointed-in-you one. The Deputy Director clears her throat, ignoring Fury as best she can for the moment. "As you are all aware, I am a product of the Soviet Super Soldier program, much as Captain America was for the United States. When I... defected... I was not entirely forthcoming with the details of the project." She takes a swallow of her ginger ale, shooting Clint a half-irritated glance at the thievery of her bear claw. "I had allowed SHIELD and the UN to operate under the assumption that, like in the US, the program was completely defunct, and that none of the serum remained available." She looks entirely too placid, every ounce of icy wall up, every bit of her focused on /business/. "This is not entirely true." A pause. "At my last understanding, there is a stockpile in the old facilities my country used to inject and train us in." Ant-Man says, “How big a stockpile?” "Well, that's not a shocker," Jessica says of Nat not being forthcoming, she snorts and shakes her head, casting a look at Fury herself. "Jesus, Nat. It would've been been might kind of you to, you know, tell us these things." She sighs. "Now what, you want us to go in there and destroy it before HYDRA can get their dirty paws on it?" Jessica glares at Natasha. Anessa's neutral expression cracks for a brief moment to reflect surprise. She's quick to cover it, however, so unless anyone was looking in her direction for that flitting moment, they would miss it. "As in," Daisy words, pointedly to the group at hand, "More than one." She exchanges her own look with Natasha, then one to Fury after stating this. She looks over towards Pym, and Drew. "And not just HYDRA. We have reason to believe both HYDRA and AIM are working to obtain the serum for their own organizations. They've joined forces to achieve this end. For now." Steve Rogers frowns, "What I understand, the Russian super soldier program has been about as successful as the American program. Most of their later projects involved human and mutants being trained and brained washed to near superhuman potential." "So...a stockpile of serum. I say we go smash it. Thoroughly." Because, Jen's heard about some of the failures, not to mention...yeaj. "Oh. That's great, just fucking great. Let us fight them both, shit, why don't we just toss in the Russians while we're at it," Jessica looks at her feet now, cheeks red, too angry to make eye-contact. Widow shrugs at Ant-Man. "I was not privy to that information. But I would assume if Skull wants it so badly, even a single vial would be more than what we should risk them getting their hands on." She pauses. "But I suspect the stockpile is enough, at least, to--" At Steve's comments, she flinches. Visibly. Flinches. "That is... also... not... exactly... accurate." That admission looks to be painful, and likely driven by Fury's presence. "It may have been more... successful than you thought. The serum. The training... well, it was somewhat /intensive/." A quick flit of a glance to Clint. "Not destroy it," chimes in Fury from the head of the table. "We want to get to it first and secure it, to keep it out of the hands of HYDRA, AIM and some more troubling elements in the Russian government." Clint's expression is neutral for once and he just sort of guiltily chews his pastry like this wasn't news to him. "So," he says as he sucks the sugar off his fingers. "When do we go?" Jessica looks up at Fury, staring nothing but daggers. "Are. You. /Kidding/ me? Ugh... never mind." Jan looks like she is going to speak...but then Fury starts speaking. She may be flighty...but she knows when to be quiet. As Clint asks when, she offers an acknowledging nod. "We're going...you wouldn't have us here otherwise. So...let's get there first before the rest." Steve Rogers frowns, "What is the Skull's role in this? He has access to the America Super Soldier formula? The original formula. It would be easier to reverse engineer that." He looks up at Fury, "Nick, are you insane? How many years have we kept this type of thing out of the world and now you want to start using it. Nothing under the Super Soldier program has been successful. We both know this. Me included. " He looks up at Natasha, "What is the success rate? Even more successful than the American formula, it can't be that high." Widow looks down at the table, then over to Fury, as if asking permission to answer Steve's question. "How many operatives are we talking about who may have been given this serum?" Inquires Daisy, her dark eyes moving to focus, solely, on Natasha. "It is unlikely that the Russians will allow anyone taking it easily. We will be in the middle of a three way contest." She-Hulk contemplates, as Fury can't read mind, the chances of the serum accidentally being destroyed in the middle of the fight. Yeah. Outwardly, she just munches on her pastry. "Listen," Fury insists. "Nobody said anything about using it, we're getting it, we're locking it away," he explains in a tone that brooks no argument. When Nat looks to him, he gives her a slight nod, approval to speak. "Whatever," Jessica says to Fury, clearly agitated. "IF it were a successful run of the Super Soldier Serum as we're being led to believe, "Hill speaks up joining the side of her SHIELD compatriots, "Having some of it on hand is a good thing. We may be able to formulate something which can undo the work that it has done. This could aid us in fighting those who have been users of it, mutated or not," she points out. "There are far more uses for having some on hand than just creating more soldiers with it." "One in three survived," Natasha replies quietly. "Of those, half went insane within four months. But those who didn't? We..." she licks her lips, focusing on a spot on the table. "...the survivors, we were trained. The training killed nine out of ten who underwent it." She looks up, her eyes locking on Steve's. "I was not the only Black Widow. I was the only one who /survived/. There were others, like me, and men who went through the program as well. Some I watched die in the same training I undertook. Some died in combat with the Americans, or the Germans..." she looks agitated herself. These things-- secrets. She did not like spilling secrets. Not even a little bit, and the presence of Nick Fury and his /very clear orders/ were the only thing that could force her into this position. She had been lying to her allies for years. And now they knew it. Jessica is used to this song and dance, she listens to Nat, however, chewing at her lower lip. "Then, what's the intel on the movement of HYDRA and AIM, are they there yet? Are we going to run into them? Is there an op plan, or should I just go now, get home. and fly by the seat of my pants when you call me into action?" It's clear Jessica wants to get to the point. "Most of all, when do we leave?" "Just tell me what to smash." It doesn't seem Jen is particularly upset with Nat, or she's just not showing anything in front of Fury. Or, well, there's smashing in the not too distant future, which usually keeps her happy. Clint nods to Jess. "Like what she said, what's the op plan? When do we roll out?" says looking at the head of the table. Jan just points to Clint and offers her non-verbal agreement. She already asked when to go. No need to repeat it. Steve Rogers nods, "Natasha, you are not the only product of the Red Room, I know." He looks at Fury and his eyes narrow and he matches his old friend for every bit of the glower and the message was simply, 'We will talk about this when the kids aren't around.' He then asks, "The Winter Soldier, Russian Bogey man, Last time I fought him, he was working for the Skull." Ant-Man taps his chin thoughtfully but remains silent. Fury nods to Hill. "Yes, thank you Maria. There are a number of applications for the serum besides it's intended use," he explains to the table before he sips his coffee. "As for the operational details. Black Widow, will handle that." Steve's look is met with a glower equally fierce, but there's acknowledgement too. They would talk later. Daisy knows better to get between Fury and Captain, when they have 'issues'. She doesn't ask, even if she recognizes the looks. There's a nod, "We will secure an amount of the serum. But it may prove to our benefit if our enemies think we -have- destroyed it all," she suggests to the group, her gaze landing lastly on Hill, Natasha, and finally Fury. "Taking out a portion of the serum will secure the deception. They will notice if we attempt to secure it all, and take appropriate measures." "I think you all underestimate how many Russians there are, and how little our government cared for any of our lives," Natasha points out woodenly. "Your program? Some died, some went insane, and your people stopped. My people... just recruited more. The program only stopped when the control of the training arena was too dangerous." She looks at Steve, giving him a slight nod. "Yes. He trained in the Red Room training facility." She takes a deep breath, glancing towards Fury. "As far as we know, they know the name of the facility, but not, as of yet, the location. I know the location." She gestures to the screens. "Kimberlitovaya Almaznaya Trubka Mir-- the Mirny mine. The world knows it as an old diamond mine in Eastern Siberia." "They did mine diamonds there, of course. We found them while--" she pauses. "It is no matter. Those are foolish details. I know the location. We must get there first, prevent them from getting their hands on it. The facilities have been abandoned for years." "Alright. I'll bite," Jessica says with a nod to Nat. "Now. When are we going? I've got some loose ends to tie up." Ant-Man says, “Was the serum produced on sight? Do we have to destroy the production facility too?” Steve Rogers takes a drink of his coffee and listens. He didn't like any of this but the whole super soldier program struck close to home. So he drinks and listens. Jan offers a sidewards glance is given to Hank as he inquires about production capabilities. Her hand pats his leg gently, a simple gesture, but one showing she approves of the question. "I like the idea of destroying most of it." Jen, willing to acknowledge that a SMALL stockpile might be useful to have around. Natasha shrugs. "I was a soldier, not a scientist. There are lab facilities, but I do not know if it was made there, or brought in from elsewhere." The memories of being injected with the stuff still, on occasion, gives her nightmares. It wasn't a pleasant experience. Hawkeye puts up his hand. "Annnd to speak for most of the group here, sooo, when do we go?" he asks again looking up at the head of the table. Jessica nods at Clint and grins, smart ass. "I second that. Again." "The lab needs to be addressed. If you are going to analyze a sample, it will help to get as much scientific knowledge as possible." Jan has adopted her serious face...all business. "Doesn't make sense to destroy it if they can just make more." "It is doubtful they gave up the program, entirely. Expect hard resistance, from all sides," suggests Daisy. But, the answer to Clint and Jessica's question has her, too, looking towards Fury, and Natasha. Fury nods to Daisy. "That works," he says about the deception, pretending to destroy the serum while saving some. Then to answer the question about the timetable "We expect to jump off in a couple of days. So keep near your communications devices, we will likely have a very small entry window to get to the site without the whole Russian army coming down on our heads." "That'll do," Jessica nods to Fury. "Can you send me the logs from this conversation to my e-mail. I've got some investigating to do, clients to call, things of that nature." She pokes at her phone quickly before looking up at Fury. "Is that all, sir?" If individuals are being observant, one would notice that Jan and Hank are leaning close to one another, exchanging whispered conversation as the rest continue. "I'll make the proper preparations, Director," Daisy says to Fury, as if already reading his mind on a few details about the insertion. "We'll be ready." Steve Rogers drinks his coffee and lets this all filter through him. Ana's been quiet this whole time, but soaking everything in. She takes in everyone's reactions, their comments.. everything. As it all wraps up, she takes out her phone, checking it for something, as she finishes up her coffee. She waits for the official.. 'meeting's over'.. then heads out slowly, watching the others leave before heading out herself. Natasha nods, shooting an apologetic look at Steve. "I will be ready," she says to the Director. Clint nods when things seem to be sorted out he stuffs down the rest of the bear claw and swallows it down. "Alright, a couple days, so time to break out the beta cloth long underwear folks," he says as he stands. "Got people to talk to down below, so if anyone needs a ride let me know," he says and starts for the door. "One seat only." "Oh! Me!" Jessica shouts after Clint. Hill speaks up just before Clint leaves while her attention is back to her datapad typing in new information. "Do well in this Agent Barton and perhaps you'll get that Siberia assignment after all." Janet waves a hand absently. "Got a costume for cold wear." Of course, with Jan, that is not a surprise at all. She probably has 6 lined up ready to go. Steve Rogers nods to Natasha. Then he rises and doesn't have anything else to say but turns to leave unless he's stopped. Fury looks over at Natasha when she volunteers to go. He frowns, his one good eye narrowing as he considers it. He doesn't comment, but clearly there's going to be another little talk after this. He looks around the table "So we're clear, be ready to go in the next forty-eight hours, any questions can be directed to Deputy Director Romanov," he says. "After I've spoken with her." There's a look to Steve as well, to suggest he had not forgotten about him either. Clint nods to Jess. "Alright, you've got it," he says before he shoots a look to Hill. "So, basically that means even if I don't screw up you're going to ditch me there?" "Do you want me there as well?" Daisy inquires of Fury. Afterall, if things go completely awry, she can bring the house down. Quite literally. "I'm going too, Barton. I'll make sure they don't leave you behind," Jessica grins. "Let's go, Circus Boy." Hill glances up toward Clint with a smile. Is it a smile? So hard to tell. "Tempting." Fury nods to Daisy. "Definitely," he says, and glances around the table for any other questions. Clint smirks back over his shoulder at Hill and snorts before he jerks his head towards the door. "Come on Nancy, time to go." Then he's out the door. Anessa makes her way out out of the conference room. Seems she has some things to do. Natasha calls to Steve, "Steve... a moment?" Janet Van Dyne glances over towards Hank..."So...want to go, hon? We got some things to discuss..." Daisy pushes up from her seat, nodding once to Fury. She has no more questions. But she looks over towards Natasha, as she calls Steve over.